Radiator-cap.



J. V. GRNE. RADIATOR CAP. APPLICATION FILED No1/113, 1911,

- 3141)@ Miro@ Patented Jan. 14,1913.

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- projection of the valve.

JOI-IN V. CRONE, OF GREELEY, COLORADO.

RADIATOR-CAP.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JOHN V. CRONE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Greeley, county of Weld, and State of Colorado, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Radiator-Caps; and I dodeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in radiator caps for automobiles,my object bein to provide a construction `adapted to ei'ligcientlyperform the aforesaid function, the device being at the same timequickly and easily applied, and readily adjustable to obtain any desiredcloseness of it between the valve or closure proper and the valve seat.The device may at t-he same time be made ornamental, which is a featureof some importance in view of the fact that the cap of a radiator isexceedingly conspicuous on an automobile. This cap is adjustable on theinlet tube of a radiator, whereby the position of the valve seat, withreference to that of the cap, may be regulated at will.

In my improved construction, the valve or closure proper is adaptedtoengage a yielding seat supported on top of the fillingY tubeV of theradiator, said seat being surrounded and held in place by means of avcollar interiorly-threaded to fit the exterior threads of the tube. Thevalve or closure is provided with a projection adapted to be acted on bythe cam of a securing device, which, as illustrated in the drawing, isin the form of an oval cover having a cam member located on the inside`thereof and adapted to act on the projection of the valve, the movementof the securing device being such that the engaging part of its campasses beyond a line cutting the axis of the securing device and thehighest part of the By virtue of this construction, the cove'r, when ithas been placed in the lockingor securing position, will maintain suchposition and is not liable to be opened except by design.

While my improved device is well adapted for use as a radiator cap, itmust be understood that it may be employed in other relations.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 13, 1911.

, Patented J an. 14, 1913.

Serial No. 659,934.

Having brieiiy outlined my improved construction, l. will proceed todescribe the same in detail, reference being made to the accompanyingdrawing, in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In this drawing: Figure 1 is a vertical section, taken through the inlettube of a radiator, showing my improved. cap applied and in the closedposition. Fig. 2 is a view of the same, showing the valve and securing dwhich surrounds the upper extremity of the tube, the latter beingreinforced, as shown at 8, to form a support for a gasket 9, which iscomposed of a sheet metal part 10, which is bent to retain an elastic oryielding member 12, the sheet metal support being widest at the bottom,extending upwardly around the elastic member, as shown at 13, and bentto form a circumferentially arranged horizontal flange 14, which engagesthe yielding member from above. This yielding member is of suiiicientwidth to extend iii wardly beyond t-he metal casing of the gasket, itsinner edge being preferably beveled, as shown at 15, to form a seat fora valve 1G, whichis of concavo-convex construction, its convex surface17 being lowermost when the valve is closed. This valve is hinged, asshown at 18, to the upper edge of the collar 7, while directly oppositethis hinge the valve is provided with a reinforcing web or projection19, which extendsY above the valve properwhen the latter is seated.

Directly opposite the hinge 18 of the valve, a securing member 20 ishinged to the collar'7, as shown at 21, the securing device beingslotted, as shown at 22, adjacent the hinge to allow the pointedextremity 23 of the projection 19 to protrude. As illustrat-ed in thedrawing, the securing device is hollow, its exterior surface beingsemispherical, except at the top, where it is pro- .vided with anornamental knob 24, which also serves as a hand piece for manipulatingthe device.

Within the hollow portion ot the securing device, is located a web orrib 25, which constitutes a cam, the deepest part ofthe cam member beingequipped with an anti-.trictional roller 26 adapted to engage theprojection 19 of the valve, so that, during the movement of the securingdevice to the closed position, the ant-i-trictional roller 26 engagesthe curved surface 27 ot the projection 19 and moves to the positionshown in Fig. l, whereby the roller has passed beyond the dead center ofthe part 1?, or beyond a line 2S passed through the axis'of the hinge 21and cutt-ing the highest point 29 ot the projection-19. When in thlsposi-l tion, the securing device tightly engages the projection 19 of,the valve 1G and holds the latter in close contact with the gasket 9,forming a seat for the valve. The valve is spring actuated toautomatically assume the open position, when the'securing device isthrown to a corresponding position. This is accomplished by mean's ot aspring 30, which is coiled around the hinge pin, one extremity engagingthe collar 7 on the inside, as shown at 31, while the other extremitybears against the valve, as shown at 32.

From the foregoing description, the use and operation of my improveddevice will be readily understood. In order to apply the device to aradiator tube, or other similar structure where aclosure is required,the collar 7 with the valve 16 and the securing device 20 hingedthereto, as heretofore explained, is screwed to the exteriorly-threadedupper extremity 6 of the tube 5. By vertically adjusting the collar uponthe tube, the position of the valve seat, with referrence to thevalve,vmay be regulated at will and the valve may beseated more or lesstightly, as may be required. Assuming that the collar is in place, thevalve is first thrown to the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig.2, after which the securing device 20 1s moved toward the left,(referring to Fig. 2), whereby its cam 25, carrying the antifrictionalroller 26, acts upon the curved face of the projection 19 of the rollertraveling over the said face to a position beyond the highest or deepestextremity thereof, as heretofore explained. The roller portion of thecam is then beyond the dead center, as indicated by the dotted line 28,and the valve is securely locked in the closed position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:-

1. In a cap or closure of the class described, the combination with atube or neck to be closed, of a collar applied to the upper part thereofand longitudinallyadjustable thereon, the said collar extending beyondthe open extremity of the tube, a gasket applied to the tube andsurrounded by the collar, a valve hinged to the collar and adapted toenter the latter to engagement with 'the gasket,a projection formed onsaid valve and a securing device also hinged to the collar and havingthe cam member engaging a project-ion formed on the valve to lock thelatter in place when the securing device is in the closed position,substantially as described.

2. r1`he combination with a tube ot a valve seat near the outer end ofthe same, a valve hinged to the tube and adapted to fold down upon thevalve sea-t, a cam projection extending upwardly trom the said valve, acover hinged to the tube opposite the hinge of the valve, and aprojection extendin downwardly from said cover and adapted to engaget-he projection of the valve upon the side adjacent the hinge of thelatter.

3. rThe combination with a tube or neck to be closed, of a collarthreaded to the outer extremity of the said tube or neck andlongitudinally adjustable thereon, the collar protruding beyond theouter extremity or the tube, the latter being equipped with a detachablevalve seat, a valve hinged to the collar at the outer extremity of thelatter and having a convex inner surface adapted to enter the collarinto engagement with the seat, a project-ion formed on said valve and asecuring device equipped with a cam adapted to engage the projection onthe valve for closing purposes, substantially as described.

4. 'llhe combination with a tube or neck to be closed, of a collarthreaded thereon and longitudinally adjustable to vary the distancewhich the collar projects beyond the outer extremity of the tube, thelatter being equipped with a yielding valve seat beyond which the collaralso projects, leaving a valve chamber beyond the seat, a valve hingedto the collar and adapted to enter the latter, into engagement with theseat, and a securing device provided with a cam equipped with ananti-frictional roller, the valve having a cam projection which theroller engages, the roller passing beyond the dead center position whenthe securing device is closed, substantially as described.-

5. A closure comprising in combination with a tubular device a collarthreaded onl` the outer extremity of the device and longitudinallyadjustable thereon, the said device being equipped with a valve seatwhich the collar-surrounds, a valve hinged to the collar and adapted toenter the protruding portion of the latter to engagement with the valveseat, the valve having a projectionexf tending beyond the collar whenthe yvalve is seated, and a hollow securing device semispherical inSnape and provided with a In testimony whereof I ax my signature handpiece, the said securing device being in presence of two Witnesses.

equipped with a web constituting a cam and equippedA with anyanti-frictional roller adapted to engage the projection on the valve andassume a position beyond the dead center, substantially as described.

JOHN V. CRONE.7

Witnesses:

STELLA BUNDLE, C. C. WASHINGTON.

